their correspondence. He writes from no love of Latins. "They are our brothers," he says, "although their rusticity and stupidity often make them behave indecently. We must not expect from these barbarians the same perfect manners as we find among our civilized people."[1] But he says: "I beg you, I implore you, and in spirit I embrace your sacred feet and entreat Your Divine Beatitude to give way and to accommodate itself to circumstances. For it is to be feared that you, in trying to heal these differences, may only make a schism, which is worse, and that in trying to lift them up you may cause a great calamity. Consider what would certainly happen if that great first and Apostolic See be divided from our holy Churches—wickedness would spread everywhere, and the whole world would be upset, the kingdoms of all the earth would be shaken, everywhere would be much woe, everywhere tears."[2]
We have every reason to suppose that Peter never did go into schism; he had plainly refused to strike the Pope's name from his diptychs once, and we see how strongly he feels about the evil of breaking the communion of that great first and Apostolic See." He died the last Catholic Patriarch of Antioch of the old line; may he rest in peace. His attitude was typical of the older Eastern tradition with its utter ignorance of anything outside the Empire, even of the Latin language, its absurd idea that "Franks" were all miserable savages,[3] its pathetic self-complacency, and yet its firm conviction that for no reason may Catholic unity be broken.
4. The End of Cerularius.
It would still remain a mystery why Cerularius should have been so absolutely determined to break with Rome at any cost,
- ↑ Will, o.c. p. 198, Peter, by the way, could not read a word of Latin. He had to send the Pope's letter to Constantinople to have it translated. He could not find any one at Antioch who could do so (p. 204). See above, p. 89.
- ↑ Will, o.c. pp. 202–203.
- ↑ The idea is quite simple: the people whom Julius Cæsar had fought were savages. Atqui the "Romans" in the East represent Cæsar and his Romans; Franks in the West are the descendants of the savages. Ergo. The ignorance of Latin seems rather strange, but perhaps Peter thought that Julius had talked Byzantine Greek. His Roman Emperor did.
